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Friends,   by   Rebecca Wolking

Solo glared at Chewbacca.  "I'm not goin' back.  The way we blasted out of
there, Triandor's security sure knows the Falcon now.  They'd impound us in
the first three minutes."

*This is not making Princess Leia look favorably on you.*

"I don't care.  That's one thing, my hide is another."  He waved his fork, a
piece of steak wobbling on the end.  "I'm pretty fond of my hide, and I'm not
gonna get it shot up for nothin'."  He stuffed the meat in his mouth and
chewed furiously.

*It would not be for nothing.  Already, the Princess is intrigued.*

His partner stopped chewing and swallowed hard.  "Huh?" he said, rather
inelegantly.

*Look at her.  Look at all of them.*

He turned.  The officers were looking at him with varying degrees of disbelief
and amusement.  The Princess, on the other hand, was staring at him with
desperate hope.  

"You mean you could do it?" she breathed.

"Of course I could," he mimicked.  "If I were crazy, which I'm not, in spite
of what you may have heard about Corellians." 

Bemused, she said, "Actually, I hadn't believed that particular rumor until I
met you."

A few days later, Han has rescued Luke from the garrison. They hide under
a bridge to allow Luke to rest for a few moments, but again, things don't go
according to plan:

Han sighed and looked out into the dark night.  Judging by the position of the
moon, he'd been with Luke for about an hour.  Tonight was their best chance
for escape -- Kardek would probably increase security tomorrow since Luke's
execution was scheduled for the next day.  Han rose and peered carefully from
their hideout.  The streets were still empty of guards, but that wouldn't
last.  Who knew what alarms he might have tripped while he was in the
garrison.  Just because there wasn't any clamoring pursuit didn't mean the
Imperials weren't out looking for them.  He looked back at the kid, silent and
motionless on the ground.  He needed rest, but if they didn't get out now
their chances would only get worse.  

He wet the rag in the river one last time and gently mopped Luke's face with
it.  "C'mon, kid, time to get up."  

Luke groaned.

"Atta boy, wake up."  Han dragged him over to lean against the underside wall
of the bridge, where Luke propped himself upright with equal parts desperation
and perseverence.  Han winced in sympathy.  He knew from past experience that
Luke would be feeling queasy and disoriented, but the kid was determined to
pull himself together.  He was just starting to drag himself up straight when
Han felt an ever-so-slight change in air pressure behind him, then there was
an explosion of light behind his eyes, and darkness.